


Once a friend

by OmittedWords



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26507581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmittedWords/pseuds/OmittedWords
Summary: A look into the friendship between Remus and Peter.
Relationships: Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	Once a friend

**Author's Note:**

> QLFC Season Eight- Round Eight
> 
> Chaser 2: Remus&Peter
> 
> Optional Prompts: 1. (relationship) childhood friends, 5. (word) ecstatic, 11. (dialogue) "I'd love to support you in this, but this is a bad idea."
> 
> Word count: 2180

"Mind if I come in?"

"No, not at all," replied Remus, as he hugged his book to his chest. The newcomer was a boy who was shorter than himself, red in the face and huffing as he attempted to drag his suitcase into the train compartment. When he was finally able to get the suitcase inside, he gave a sheepish smile, before curling up on the seat opposite of Remus.

Remus picked up his book again. It was less about reading and more about having something to do. Or rather, looking like he'd had something to do. Had the boy noticed his scars? Most boys his age would notice them, and he uneasily pulled down the sleeves of his robes and positioned the book higher to cover his face. When a couple of minutes had passed, he peeked over the top of his book to see the other boy fidgeting in his seat.

He wondered whether he should start a conversation before he quickly shot the thought down. What would he even talk about? Not another word passed between them for half of the journey. Remus found himself unable to concentrate on his book, the words slipping away as soon as he had read them. _He was going to Hogwarts. He was going to Hogwarts. He was-_

"Are you a first year too?" The other boy broke into his thoughts and Remus replied with a nod.

"You too?"

"Yeah."

The conversation lapsed into silence. The boy started to pick at the hem of his robes and Remus realised with a pang that he had probably been bored out of his mind. He himself had at least had his book with him, even though he hadn't been able to concentrate on it. "What uh- Which house do you think you'll be in?"

"Well, I'm definitely sure I won't be in Ravenclaw," replied the boy with a shy smile. "Actually, I don't really think I fit into any house." The boy was curling in on himself so much that it seemed as if his robes were swallowing him. "What house do you think you'll be in?"

"I think I'd like to go to Ravenclaw." He did like reading and he loved learning new things, so that's where he'd go, right?

"Oh."

The conversation trailed off and Remus flicked through the pages of his book absently. How much longer would the journey take? He still couldn't believe that _he was going to Hogwarts_.

The boy suddenly jumped off the seat and started to open his suitcase. Remus raised his eyebrows in surprise. The boy wrangled with the lock for a bit until it opened, and he withdrew a paper bag.

"My mum gave me biscuits. Probably shouldn't have put it in the suitcase," he explained to Remus as he locked the suitcase again. "She told me to share with friends on the train. Would you like some?"

Remus stood stock still, surprised. "Thank you," he said finally, accepting the biscuit that the boy offered him. "It's really good!"

The boy beamed. "It is, isn't it? Mom's a fantastic baker. Here, have another."

As he bit into the biscuit, he realised that he still didn't know the other boy's name. It'd be rude to ask then though, wouldn't it?

Later he was sitting at the Gryffindor table after his own sorting when the deputy headmistress called out the name _Peter Pettigrew_. His friend from the train ran up to the stool, nearly tripping on the way there.

_Friend_ , thought Remus and he smiled.

And Peter Pettigrew was sorted to Gryffindor.

xxx

Remus had just finished his meal when he saw Peter enter the Great Hall from the corner of his eye.

"Did you get it done?" whispered Remus as Peter slipped onto the bench beside him.

"Of course, I did. It went perfectly. I didn't even have to suggest to them to come late and make a dramatic entrance. Sirius came up with it all by himself."

"And they didn't suspect anything?" asked Remus.

"Not a thing. I _can_ act natural, you know. Anyway, where's the camera?"

Remus rummaged in his bag. "Here." he handed Peter the camera. "Boy, was it difficult to convince McKinnon to lend me this. Make sure you get the whole outfit into the frame, alright? Are you sure you can do this, Peter?"

Peter nodded enthusiastically. "I can't wait! How long do you think it'll take before they come?"

"Don't know," replied Remus with a shrug. "How did you convince them to do it, anyway?"

"Sirius was only too happy to wear something that'd get his parents angry. I don't think he'd mind too much when he finds out that it isn't actually 'high end muggle fashion'. James though—"

"is going to be devastated," said Remus with a grin. "The look on his face is going to be— oh, this looks even better than I'd imagined."

James and Sirius had just strolled into the Great Hall, heads held high and both wearing matching outfits. White shirts, waistcoats tucked into a pair of outrageously bright blue shorts and a fuzzy bathrobe thrown on top.

"That bathrobe was a stroke of genius, Moony," said Peter as he struggled to angle the camera, shaking from suppressed laughter.. All around them the students had started to notice and were whispering amongst themselves.

"Don't forget to get the sandals in the picture," remarked Remus absently as they began to walk towards the Gryffindor table. "A copy of this one is definitely going on the dorm wall."

"How long do you think before they notice something is up?"

Remus had just opened his mouth to reply when James and Sirius reached the Gryffindor table.

"Come on, just move over a bit," muttered Sirius as he and James made room for themselves on the bench opposite Remus and Peter.

"Mr Potter! Mr Black! _What_ are you wearing _?_ " Professor McGonagall's voice carried easily as she hurried towards the Gryffindor table.

"Muggle clothes, Professor!" replied Sirius cheerfully.

"I can assure you Mr Black that one does not dress like that even in the muggle world."

"Of course, they do," replied James. "You'd know, Evans. Isn't this what muggle clothing looks like?"

"Potter. You're wearing _swim shorts_ with a formal waistcoat and a _bathrobe_. No self-respecting muggle would wear such an idiotic outfit," deadpanned Lily Evans.

James' mouth dropped open.

"Thank you, Miss Evans. Now, I do _not_ want to see the both of you making such a disruption during mealtime again."

James spluttered as Professor McGonagall went back to the high table.

"How could you?!"

xxx

"Remus. Remus!"

"What?" said Remus, looking up from his notes and raising an eyebrow. "And keep your voice down Peter, we're in the library."

"I've got a great idea."

"And I already don't like where this is going. Couldn't you have waited till I went to the common room?"

"I had to come here because if James and Sirius saw the both of us discussing this, they'd be on their guard. I've got an idea to prank them."

"You know they'd retaliate with a much more over the top prank, don't you? I'd love to support you in this, but this is a bad idea."

"Oh no, it's not. You know how James and Sirius are utterly clueless about muggle things?"

"We _cannot_ convince James that a feather boa is appropriate muggle wear. That's the kind of thing that only works once. Besides, they're not going to trust us with muggle clothes anymore."

"That's exactly the thing. They won't trust us with muggle _clothes_ but what about food?"

"What do you mean food?"

"So, you know soda cans, right?"

" _Of course_ , I know soda cans, Peter."

"How about we convince them to shake their cans before opening?"

"That… could actually work. They would be wary about muggle things now, though. What if they make us open our cans first? They'd be suspicious if we don't shake our cans but make them shake theirs. Perhaps we should use a freezing spell on our cans? Or vanish the liquid inside the can _before_ opening."

"Or we could use some juice cans for the both of us. We'd just have to change the label of it."

"Wormtail, you genius."

"It's called common sense, Moony. So, will you do it?"

"Absolutely."

Peter let out a loud whoop of delight that made the librarian loudly shush him.

"Sorry," he said meekly, though he still looked ecstatic.

xxx

Remus glanced at Peter, who was sitting on the armchair hunched in on himself and scowling at the DADA textbook in his hands.

"Careful, the book might burst into flames," remarked Remus as he took a seat across his friend. "I've been looking for you. Need a bit of help with some Charms work and thought you might be able to help."

Peter glared at him. "You're much better at Charms than I am, you shouldn't need any help."

Remus sighed and opened his notebook.

"You know, I just came from the library," he said after a couple of minutes of silence. Peter gave no indication of having heard him. "Thought I'd do some Charms research. Just out of curiosity of course. Nothing of much importance," he said, jotting down notes even as he talked. He knew that Peter was listening. "I was going through a couple of Charms books when I came across a nifty little tracking spell that can be cast onto a place, rather than a single individual."

This had finally gotten Peter's attention and he sat up straight abruptly, book tumbling onto the floor. "A place? Not an object?"

Remus nodded. "I've made some notes already. There are some uncertainties with this, but I think we've got a decent shot with this. And it's a charm so your input will be vital."

"Let's work on it now. Where are James and Sirius?"

"They're down by the Quidditch pitch," replied Remus.

"But there isn't any Quidditch practice today."

"I know. They're both trying to see who can do better dives and honestly, it'd be a miracle if they're both in one piece. They're doing the most ridiculous dives." Peter grinned at that.

"Go and get them. I'll be setting things up in the dorm. Oh and Peter—" Peter turned around on the way out, "don't worry too much about DADA alright? You just lost us a couple points, it's not a big deal. James and Sirius probably lose way more points with all the ruckus they cause in class. I'll help you brush up on this week's chapter before next class, alright?"

Peter smiled before running off to fetch James and Sirius.

xxx

The door of the dorm banged open and Remus looked up and saw the smile slip off Peter's face.

"Remus? What's— hey it's going to be alright now, isn't it? It's alright now—" Peter was rambling as he made his way over to his bed.

"Peter, go away."

"What's wrong, Remus? Everything's alright now, isn't it? James has sorted everything out with Dumbledore, and nothing even happened to Sniv- sorry Snape," he hastily amended when Remus glared at him. "Are you worried that Snape is going to tell someone? I'm sure Dumbledore made sure that he wouldn't dream of going around babbling-"

"It's not that. I could've hurt Snape! I could've bitten him, or even worse. I should've been expelled and you know that Wormtail."

"No, no. Don't say that. It wasn't your fault. Wait, I have some chocolates." Peter jumped off his bed and started rummaging around. "It was mostly Sirius' fault, wasn't it? If Sirius hadn't gone and told Snape none of this would've happened."

"Don't make this about Sirius! You know he didn't mean to."

"I didn't say that he meant to." Peter stuck his head out from behind a cupboard. "But he still did it, and it's not your fault. Oh! I should've thought of this sooner. ' _Accio'_ my chocolates." A dozen or so chocolates zoomed at Peter from under a pile of parchment and clattered down by his feet. He scooped up the lot in his arms and took a seat beside Remus.

"Thank you," said Remus when Peter offered him a chocolate.

"Now, don't worry. James was there and he reacted so quickly, didn't he? Sirius will come around; he's just moping because Snape riled him up too much. And I'm here too, right? Don't worry, we're all with you. Marauders forever, right?"

Remus smiled. "You're a good friend, Peter. You're a good friend."

xxx

Peter was a good friend. One that had helped him through many tough transformations, along with James and Sirius. Peter was a friend he'd made at the age of eleven and mourned over at the age of twenty-one.

And now Peter stands on the opposite side of his and Sirius' wands.

Peter had brought the death of his friends.

His friend has turned into a foe.

He wonders when exactly everything started to fall apart, to twist and turn and so much that they no longer made sense.

Peter was once a friend of his.


End file.
